When's someday? Is it today?
by Tomaria
Summary: Written after the end of the manga series, before the oneshots, Toya Akira and Shindo Hikaru discuss a few things before going home after the China-Korea-Japan Jr. Hokutouhai.


**When's "someday"? Is it today?__**

By Tomaria

_Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own HikaGo, nor do I own the fabulous Toya Akira. However, I do own my columns for the AGA E-Journal, so go read it! Onegaishimasu. ((I'm such a shameless plugger for American Go Promotion.))_

A/N: Alrightie! It's been a long time since I've done a HikaGo fic, but then again this one has been floating around my hard drive for a while. And plus, after getting back from the Congress I have new Go invigoration and I've read through all the manga again so I thought it was high time to finish this. You know the drill by now, I hope. Read and review!

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Akira slid the key out of the slot, knocking on the door as he opened it.

"Shindo? Shindo?"

He entered the room and briefly noticed it was exactly like his, only the bed was on the opposite wall. The curtains were billowing in the wind, so the balcony doors were open. He walked outside and stood next to the Go player he was looking for.

As they stood there, in the brooding silence, the cool May wind blew in a calming manner that invited conversation.

"It's a beautiful day."

"I lost."

"But it was a wonderful game." Toya stared with a mixture of disbelief, confusion and aggravation on his face. He couldn't understand why Shindo was being so stubborn. It was true he'd lost, but the game had been best of the whole tournament, possibly the best he'd ever played.

"But it wasn't enough. I wanted to defend Shusaku's honor." Shindo leant his forearms on the balcony rail and bowed his head in defeat. _And instead I destroyed it! I'm sorry, Sai… I'm not strong enough._

_Shusaku__ again..._ Toya sighed internally and looked away from his teammate. He gazed out over the city of Tokyo, deciding finally to say what he really wanted.

"I couldn't have done any better."

Shindo's head snapped up at Toya's dissention of his strength. What made Toya Toya was his utter confidence in his ability, but for the first time in his life Shindo heard the prodigy contradict his persona.

"Nandatta?! You're 'Toya Akira!' You would have won!" Shindo gawked with surprise as, for some reason he couldn't figure out, he argued with Toya's statement of equality.

"You're just as good as me. That's why I couldn't have done any better." Toya continued to look out over the high rises and hotels, knowing full well that he was ignoring Shindo's eyes.

"If that's true, then why are you a 3-dan and I'm still at the bottom?" Still unconvinced, he folded his arms over the rail and looked down at the bustling street below. Up above it all, despite the people continuing on their way unaffected by the unusually calm argument going on stories above their heads, it seemed as if the two Go Pros on the balcony were the only people in existence; rival gods of their own universe shaping the way the future of their world would be.

Toya turned his head slightly to give a sidelong look at his fellow deity, deciding the world's fate as he did. "… I chased after you, Shindo. I still do."

"You chased after a shadow." Shindo retorted as fast as a response in Lightning Go, but not without remorse. _You chased after Sai_. He turned his head away from Toya's glance and scowled at the corner of the balcony. He felt tears in the back of his eyes, but he wasn't going to let them fall. He'd cried before, he was done now.

Toya could tell from the depressed tone of his voice, Shindo was trying to convince himself of something he desperately didn't want to believe. The boy Toya had first met in the Go Salon was not the one standing next to him, and he knew that, but he also knew that that same boy was the one he ran from, the one also ran after. To him, it didn't matter who was who, no matter how much he wanted to know, just as long as he had someone to play against. "Someday" could wait, because if Shindo really was two people, if the supernatural being sulking in the sky really held God of Go inside of him, then that only made him all the more worthy.

"I chase after you. The 'you' you are now. 'Shindo Hikaru Shodan...' My rival." Toya turned to look at the adversary, the challenger, the equal to his right: his eyes filled with unwavering resolve for his affirmation.

_Toya__..._ Shindo could do nothing but meet his "rival's" intense gaze amazedly. He was taken aback, but Shindo smiled as he understood Toya's subliminal meaning. _'All you are is the Go you play.' Thanks, Toya._

The gods stood tall, their universe's future set to be one of understanding and competition, and as the wind blew though their elevated palace, the two Go Pro's enjoyed the thought of the never-ending, intertwined path they were walking along.

"'To link the far past and the far future... Maybe that's why we're all here.'"

"..."

"That's what Ko Yongha said."

"... Maybe it is."

A/N: Okay, here I have a problem. I think this is a good ending, imagine it: Toya and Shindo, standing on the balcony beside one another, gazing out over the sunset scene of Tokyo with an understanding of each other's feelings about the other—their friendship. Sorry to disappoint the AkiHika fangirls but this is just about their friendship, I'll have other stories about their "_relationship_" later, but for now I just really wanted to focus on their unspoken misinterpreted friendship. However, I have written more to this story, I just don't know if I want to post it. It's more about Toya's feelings and him finally confessing them to Shindo. Again, only friendship dammit! () So, whatdya think? I'll leave it up to you guys. Review with your opinions, onegaishimasu.

--Tomaria

(a.k.a. Aria-chan)


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